David Gonzales
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Gonzales began drawing comics while he was in high school, the characters of these amateur comic stories were barrio guys, as Gonzales grew in the tough streets of a poverty ridden barrio. The main character of his strip was called "Hollywood". His schoolmates liked his drawings so much that they began asking Gonzales to draw some strips for them.
Eventually, Gonzales made his way to Low Rider magazine, where he had his monthly comic strip, also named "Hollywood". While drawing for Low Rider magazine, Gonzales became inspired by other people that he knew. As a matter of a fact, he admits that the "Homie" character, "La Gata" ("The Cat") is loosely based on his wife. Gonzales slowly but steadily introduced the "Homies" to the public through his comic strip at Low Rider magazine.
He also sold "Homie" products on beach stands across California. Gonzales drew his characters on t-shirts, which were later sold to customers. He and his wife also sold other types of products related to the "Homies".
In 1998, he released the first set of "Homies", sponsored by Low Rider magazine. The "Homies" figures were also sold in supermarket machines that year.
Gonzales initially had trouble selling his product, in particular because the LAPD claimed that the "Homies" glorified gang life. Many stores stopped selling the Homies.
Met with the challenge of re-creating his characters to ensure that the product would sell well during a comeback, Gonzales went back to the drawing board and gave the "Homies" a new life when he gave each individual character a biography as a well to do person.
When the "Homies" returned to retail stores and supermarkets, such as Walmart and Safeway, Gonzales was also able to introduce "Los Mijos", another toy that he invented and that are co-related to the "Homies". Once again sponsored by Low Rider Magazine, the "Homies" returned with such new items as posters, Die-Cast cars and other articles.
In 2004, Gonzales introduced a toy line named "The Palermos", a line that is loosely based on old Italian mafia legends.
Gonzales maintains a feud with a website called streetgangs.com, which wrote an article that pointed out the police's protests against the "Homies". He claims, however, that after he gave "Homies" characters good-guy (or girl) biographies, the police have actually received him at local police stations multiple times and some officers have ordered figures from him personally.
